The ABNA quarterfinalist results are in!

After a waiting patiently (or impatiently) for March 23rd to come around, and refreshing the Amazon ABNA page all day long, it wasn't until just before 10pm eastern time that the third round results showed up. I opened the PDF file and scrolled through the list of 250 quarterfinalists in the Young Adult Novels section...

I made it! I'm through to the third round, or quarterfinals, with my novel Island of Fog.

Two "official" Amazon Reviews based on my 4000-word excerpt (the prologue and first chapter) are available on my ABNA page. To save you time, I've posted them here:

Amazon.com Review"Island of Fog" is a very strong entry. I appreciate the care the author took in preparing the excerpt for submission, and if the story holds up as well throughout, then this book is going to get noticed. I hope that happens because it appeals to me very much.

Amazon.com ReviewA nice blend of the TV show "Lost" with the movie "The Village." If the author can continue with this level of quality throughout the entire story I feel that they could have a hit novel on their hands. I certainly would be interested in reading the rest of the story!

These are far more positive than I could have hoped for! I've been following reports from other quarterfinalists and reading some of the reviews they received, and while many are good there are also quite a few that are mixed or offer constructive criticism. So to have two really nice reviews like the ones above... well, I have a spring in my step today. :-)

So Island of Fog is now into the quarterfinals. According to the contest rules, Penguin now have first refusal publishing rights on the novel unless/until I'm eliminated in one of the next rounds.

Over the next month, Publishers Weekly will be reading and reviewing each of the 250 quarterfinalist manuscripts and their "Judging Criteria" point system will determine which 100 novels make it through to the semifinals on April 27th.

More information about the contest (particularly the winning prizes and detailed key dates) can be found here.

As my author buddy Laura Canning would say when excited about something... "Woot!"